Inside B.C. Politics: Why it matters in Golden
Hi there! We likely haven’t met, though some of you may feel like you know me — if you’re a regular viewer of Global TV News, I’ve been in your living room or den for the past 30 years or so.
That’s right: I’m Global TV’s legislature bureau chief, and now, here I am starting to write a column on B.C. politics for The Golden Star.
How on earth did this happen?
Last week, I was sitting in the legislature’s library reading room, leafing through some documents, when my cell phone blared its presence to the several other people in the library at the time.
I did not recognize the phone number that was displayed, but I answered anyway.
“Is this Keith Baldrey?” asked the unfamiliar voice. I asked who was calling.
“This is Duane Crandall.”
I was somewhat shocked, since I hadn’t talked to Duane since 1991, when he left the legislature after serving a term as the MLA for this riding.
He was phoning me as I am the president of the legislature press gallery, and he told me he was looking for someone to write a regular column on B.C. politics for The Golden Star.
“How about me?” I offered. After all, I’m a former newspaper reporter (almost 12 years with The Vancouver Sun), and I had written a syndicated weekly newspaper column for the Glacier Media chain for more than 20 years.
As much as I love television news, I also love to write, and I missed my column-writing days. Newspapers remain in my blood, and the Golden Star has a storied past that dates to the 1890s.
The fact that the Crandall family took over the paper (again) a few years back and is keeping its strong journalistic tradition alive is something that should be celebrated. So many newspapers have closed over recent years – very few of the papers I used to write for in the Glacier Media chain are still in existence – so to be part of one once again is an exciting and important development for any journalist.
I first met Duane Crandall in the spring of 1987, when we both arrived for work at the B.C. legislature for the first time. He was a rookie Social Credit MLA for the Columbia River riding, and I was the new Vancouver Sun newspaper reporter in the legislative press gallery.
If you told me back then that one day Duane would ask me to write a column for his family’s newspaper, it is fair to say I would have looked at you more than a little strange.
Yet this kind of development fits the world of B.C. politics, which is rife with examples of strange twists and turns and unexpected outcomes.
I hope this column becomes a favoured landing spot for readers. I hope to share my insights – gleaned from more than 40 years of observance – of B.C. politics and occasionally federal politics as well.
Don’t expect much inside-the-beltway stuff, but do expect news and analysis of why things are happening the way they are on the political front, and why they may be relevant to you.
This column may be written in Victoria, which is a long way from Golden. But the legislature is the “people’s house,” and it shouldn’t matter how close or far you live from it, since what happens there can affect so many.
Issues such as health care, education, forestry, mining, highways, indigenous rights, energy and so many others will be the focal point here, and not from a Metro Vancouver viewpoint.
It’s great to be back in the newspaper biz. Come along on the ride with me!
Keith Baldrey is the legislature bureau chief for Global TV.
Keith.Baldrey@globalnews.ca
